Oberlin Heritage Center Blog


Posts Tagged ‘History’

Sandusky’s Underground Railroad

Tuesday, December 10th, 2019

by Melva Tolbert, OHC Volunteer

About 4 years ago, the Oberlin Heritage Center traveled to Sandusky, Ohio as part of their education program for staff and volunteer docents. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but continued to have an interest in the history of Sandusky’s involvement with Underground Railroad and wanted to learn more.  This past October, my husband and I ventured out and found two locations connected to this history: the Second Baptist Church and the Follett House Museum.  The experience was memorable and I want to share it with all of you.

We found the Second Baptist Church (on Decatur St.), which is said to have been one of the most active locations in the Sandusky Underground Railroad network. We were fortunate to find one of its members at the neighboring parsonage and he invited us in for a brief tour of the current building.  The historic placard in the front yard explained the Underground Railroad activity that occurred there.  With the view of Lake Erie in plain sight from our location, it was easy for me to visualize the freedom seekers’ journey to Canada.  The gentleman led us into the small sanctuary with its large stained glass windows and purple family pew cushions.  The original church was founded as a Zion Baptist Church in 1849 by a group of formerly enslaved peoples and freeborn Blacks. Just prior to the Civil War, the church was organized at its present site under the name First Regular Anti-Slavery Baptist Church. The sanctuary that we stood in dates to around 1930, and was constructed around the original church’s wooden framework.

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Second Baptist Church, March 17th 1957. Photo Courtesy of the Sandusky Library.

I asked whether there was a basement, which our guide confirmed there was, so we followed him downstairs to a large room with tables, chairs, and a large commercial kitchen.  Our guide then showed me a side room that housed the furnace. Thinking about how the space may have been used in the era of slavery, I could image that many people seeking refuge could find some rest and comfort here before continuing on to Canada.

 

The following day, I arrived at the Follett House for a tour.  The original use of the home was for Oran and Eliza Follett and their children.  The home is now owned and operated by the Sandusky Public Library, which documents the history of both Sandusky and Erie County. My tour began in the den of Mr. Follett, who was known primarily for being a publisher, president of the Sandusky, Dayton, and Cincinnati Railroad, and for his involvement in the local banking industry.  His wife was a homemaker and active in the local community providing aid to those in need.

Circ 1894 Follett House compressed

 

The Follett House, ca. 1984. Photo Courtesy of the Sandusky Library.

The docent led me to the front parlor and rear parlor pointing out the massive fireplaces which illustrated the family’s wealth.  There was a temporary display in the rear parlor of people connected to Sandusky’s early Underground Railroad activity, including the Folletts. We then continued the tour into the basement of the home.  There were several quilts displayed and old maps of the Sandusky area.  The tour led us to the second floor which contained four large bedrooms for the family and then to another staircase to the fourth floor (attic) where the tour ended.

My desire is to continue visiting and learning more about this incredibly historic area of Ohio, and I urge all of you to do your own exploring as well.

 

For more information on the Sandusky Underground Railroad Network, feel free to visit the following websites to plan your own experiences:

Erie County Underground Railroad Historic Walking Tour

Follett House Museum

NPS Visit Underground Railroad Sites

The Lost Streets of Oberlin

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018

by Officer Bashshar Wiley,Oberlin Police Department

As a police officer with the City of Oberlin Police Department, I spend a lot of time patrolling the streets and neighborhoods. Although I’m not sure of the exact number of miles driven or hours spent on patrol during the past seven years, I do know that it’s probably a significant number. Any good cop will tell you the key to patrolling the streets, is knowing the streets. What makes Oberlin unique in this aspect is that while doing research for another topic, I came across maps which showed streets that have drastically changed over time, no longer exist, and in some cases, “kinda-sorta” still exist. It caught my interest and I decided to document and write about it while working overtime on a particularly quiet Sunday dayshift.

Please click on an image to view it in a larger format.

 

FRANKFORT STREET

Frankfort 1896

Atlas and Directory of Lorain County Ohio, The American Atlas Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1896

Frankfort 1912

Atlas of Lorain County Ohio, C.H. Lawrence and L.W. Griffin, Elyria Ohio, 1912

 

Frankfort Street ran eastbound & westbound between Water Street, which is modern day South Park Street, and Spring Street. These maps show the location of Frankfort Street just to the south of Groveland Street.

 

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Photo by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

 

Although Frankfort Street still appears on some maps, today it’s essentially a private driveway for the residents at 173 South Park Street.

 

RAILROAD STREET

Railroad Street

Atlas of Lorain County Ohio, D. J. Lake and Co., 1874

Railroad Street was located north of the old railroad tracks, with Sumner Street to the south. Railroad Street ran parallel with the railroad tracks and was accessed by Water Street (South Park) and the intersection of Mechanic Street and Spring Street. Mechanic Street to the west of Water Street would become Locust Street and to the east would become Frankfort Street. An interesting fact about Railroad Street is that on October 25, 1926, a homicide took place at the Chester Durham residence located on the corner of Railroad Street and Spring Street when he was shot and killed by William Whiteside after a drunken disagreement following money owed during a card game.

 

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Photo by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

This photo shows the intersection of Groveland Street and Spring Street looking southbound to the Spring Street Extension. Further south would’ve been the intersection of Spring Street, Frankfort Street and Railroad Street. Today, it’s used to access the bike path and Oberlin Community Garden located behind Groveland Street.

 

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Photo by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

Today, Railroad Street no longer exists and cannot be seen from South Park Street or the bike path which has replaced the old railroad tracks. This private driveway of 225 South Park Street would’ve been the approximate location of the west side access to Railroad Street.

 

SOUTH PROSPECT STREET & SOUTH CEDAR STREET

South Prospect

Atlas of Lorain County Ohio, D. J. Lake and Co., 1874

At one time, South Prospect Street continued, or was envisioned to continue, south of Morgan Street, over the railroad tracks, past Follett (Lincoln) Street and ended at what is today West Hamilton Street.  Additionally, prior to the construction of the Morgan Street Reservoir, South Cedar Street, then known as West Street and later Cedar Avenue, continued south of Morgan Street and ended at Follett (Lincoln) Street.

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Photos by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

Today, South Prospect Street ends at Morgan Street other than a gravel driveway which leads to private residences. Going south past the gravel driveway leads to Ladies Grove, which is a series of walking paths connecting to The Arboretum.

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Photos by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

PENFIELD STREET

Penfield Street

Atlas and Directory of Lorain County Ohio, The American Atlas Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1896

Penfield Street was accessed just to the south of Johnson House on South Professor Street. It also connected to Cedar Avenue, which stopped at Morgan Street but then continued on the south side of the Morgan Street Reservoir to Follett (Lincoln) Street. Another interesting note about this map is that it also shows Culvert Street and Catherine Street between the railroad tracks and Follett (Lincoln) Street which both no longer exist. Additionally, South Prospect Street has been changed to a “Vacated Street.”

Penfield2

Atlas of Lorain County Ohio, C.H. Lawrence and L.W. Griffin, Elyria Ohio, 1912

By 1912, Penfield Street still existed although the sections of South Professor and South Cedar Streets which ran south of Morgan Street have been removed.

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Photos by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

In 2018, Penfield Street is simply a gravel driveway access to The Arboretum located behind a locked gate which can only be accessed by Oberlin College Campus Safety. The Arboretum is accessible to the public from Morgan Street.

 

HOVEY LANE

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Photos by Bashshar Wiley, 2018

Hovey Lane is partially a gravel driveway access for the private residence of 234 East Lorain Street and continues northbound to the Oberlin High School football field. My experience with Hovey Lane occurred while training a new officer on the midnight shift. At approximately 6:00am, I instructed my trainee to drive up Hovey Lane and use it as a cut-through to patrol the Oberlin High School football field. As we continued northbound up the drive, we could feel our patrol vehicle sinking in the mud. I instructed my trainee to “gun it” and informed him I would take the blame if we got stuck. Thankfully, our all-wheel drive Ford Explorer with the police interceptor package was able to power through the thick, muddy terrain. At shift change, one of the sergeants coming on duty noticed our cruiser in the parking lot, now covered in mud, and asked us “who went mudding?” I immediately pointed at my trainee and stated “he did it.” My sergeant then rolled his eyes in disappointment, instructed us to wash off the mud-caked cruiser and went into his office.

FA056C39-B3CA-4816-8CBE-B5A80958F0DB

Oberlin Weekly News, May 6, 1881

Another interesting piece of Oberlin history is that Frank Hovey served as the Oberlin Village Marshal during the 1800s prior to his sudden resignation during a council meeting on May 6, 1881. Frank Hovey would then be replaced by Constable Franklin Stone.

Thank you for reading.

If you are interested in viewing any of the atlases used in this post, please contact the Oberlin Heritage Center, at (440) 774-1700 or [email protected],  to set up a research appointment.

Behind the Scenes – Oral History Digitizing

Wednesday, July 1st, 2015

by Eileen Telegdy, Oberlin Heritage Center volunteer

I am Eileen Telegdy and in October of 2014 I retired, sold my home and moved to a condo in Oberlin. I responded to an ad Liz Schultz, the Museum Education and Tour Coordinator of the Oberlin Heritage Center, placed in the local paper in January of 2015 seeking volunteers to join the Oberlin Oral History Committee. I joined and volunteered to help digitize the cassette tapes from the Series II phase of the project (2000 to the present).

 

Eileen Telegdy digitizing an oral history cassette

 

Digitizing the tapes is done in the basement of the Monroe House, which is teeming with activity by employees, interns, students and volunteers. The space is well utilized and surprisingly quiet, interrupted only by phone and doorbell rings and soft spoken conversations. Everyone is friendly, welcoming and helpful. Once an interview is completed it is painstakingly transcribed, saved to files on the computer and also printed and placed in a binder. A preface is also written, cassette labeled and cataloged in inventory. The quality of the tapes varies.

To digitize, the cassette tape is played on a converter connected to the computer with a USB cord. As the converter plays the tape, a free program called Audacity records it and then converts it into a WAV (sound) file. The results in a more efficient method of storage and improved preservation and availability. I found listening to the interviews captivating and compelling, so much so that I wanted to be in the basement of the Monroe House with earphones on four mornings a week for a couple of months. I listened to the interviews as they were recorded and simultaneously read the transcripts to check for any discrepancies. The chronicling from childhood to retirement years of multiple generations of residents who experienced all the conflict and challenges that faced our nation during the last millennium to the present is illuminating and hearing their stories in their own voices adds an invaluable dimension.

Since most interviews are not focused on one specific subject, information on various issues is revealed in an anecdotal manner in numerous interviews of different individuals, providing insight and understanding of very diverse positions on a multitude of issues. For example, the interviews explain the obstacles encountered and the procedures required that eventually brought Splash Zone, the industrial park, fair housing, Kendal, and the FAA to Oberlin, plus the beginning of Head Start and averting what was the apparent imminent closure of the hospital in Oberlin. This is not a comprehensive list; only a representation of some of the subjects discussed. All benefited from the perseverance and diligent efforts of hard working motivated individuals who believed in the betterment of the city for all ages and races. I think hearing the voices increases understanding of the transcripts exponentially. The voices provide intent, emotion and inflection that are lacking in the written word. It is my sincere hope this method will keep the interviews available for many years. Presently, all the cassette tapes in inventory have been digitized. It was a pleasure and privilege to contribute to this project.

My SHA Experience

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014

By Liz Schultz, Museum Education and Tour Coordinator

I wish to thank the staff, board, and supporters of the Oberlin Heritage Center for encouraging and supporting my participation in the three week workshop “Developing History Leaders @ Seminar for Historic Administration,” which ran from November 1 to November 22, 2014 in Indianapolis. Organized by the American Association for State and Local History, “SHA” is widely regarded as an exceptional training experience for individuals in the history museum field. For me, the experience was both informative and inspirational. I returned to the Heritage Center with a better understanding of the wider history museum field, the Heritage Center’s capacity to have a meaningful impact on individuals and the community at large, and my own abilities and responsibilities within the organization.

Black and White Group Shot

SHA Class of 2014

There were twenty-one participants in the seminar who came from varied history institutions, large and small, independent and government supported. It was a unique opportunity for me to share ideas and discuss challenges among peers. Daily morning and afternoon sessions were led by over 30 visiting leaders in the field, including CEOs of museums and managers of national organizations, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Council on Public History. It was amazing to meet so many passionate, experienced leaders. To a person, they were approachable and more than willing to answer questions and teach from their own past successes and failures.

The sessions were varied and intense. I include a quick list, although it does not do justice to the depth of our discussions:
Week 1: History Relevance Campaign, Changing Demography of America and Museum Visitation, Technology Trends, Models of Leadership, Strategic Thinking and Managing Change, Object-Based Experiences
Week 2: Exhibitions and Community, Fundraising and Boards, Earned Revenue and Entrepreneurship, Advocacy, Evaluation, Live Interpretation
Week 3: Engaging Communities, Financial Sustainability, Leadership & Followership, International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, Historic Preservation, Service to the Field

As much as I learned from the classroom sessions, I have to admit that the occasional evening dinners with the speakers and the few field trips we took were a welcome change of pace. (After all, I do work in an informal education setting). Either through the seminar or on our own time, I visited the Indiana Historical Society, Indiana State Museum, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indiana Children’s Museum, Indiana Landmarks, Indiana Medical History Museum, Indiana War Memorial, and Conner Prairie Interactive History Park’s Follow the North Star UGRR program. (Okay, I also visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.)

I came back with Powerpoint copies, journal articles, and a notebook full of notes, but what I really came back with is less obvious. I return with new understanding gained from the materials, talking with peers, and discussing multiple case studies. My professional network increased exponentially and I now know that whatever challenge I am facing, someone out there has the know-how to help out. I have color-coded lists of ideas – things I need to do, things I would like to see the Heritage Center try, ways I can improve my work habits and project planning, and lists of books I should read.

I also returned with a new frame of mind. I particularly enjoyed our sessions discussing the necessity of organizational flexibility and change, balancing different leadership strengths, and the need to step back and look at larger goals. I think it was great that I was able to participate in this just as the Heritage Center prepares to review its five-year strategic plan and launch into development of a new plan. I especially hope to weave in my new thinking about reaching new audiences and re-examining our interpretive goals and what exactly we want visitors to leave with.

The experience also gave me new perspective on the impact of historical organizations, and the Heritage Center in particular. There were many moments I was able to think to myself, “Ha! We’re already doing that.” Of course we’re not supposed to rest on our laurels, but it was still very encouraging knowing that we are already an organization that plans for long-term stability, tries new projects, realizes the importance of professional development, collaborates with community partners, shares significant stories, strives to be transparent, and is driven by community-minded, caring people.

Thank you to everyone who supported my participation in this program, whether through financial support, allowing me work time to go, taking on my daily duties, supervising projects, and leading tours in my absence.

I hope you are all able to attend my public program on December 17, 2014 (7:15 p.m., at Kendal at Oberlin) about my SHA experience and highlights of what I learned. I also had the opportunity to be a guest blogger during the SHA experience and you can read my post, “Ready for Change,” as well as other posts about the seminar.

Oberlin Has Tie to “12 Years a Slave” Character

Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

By David Fiske, Co-author of Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave, Praeger, 2013.

Though Louisiana is the primary setting for the film 12 Years a Slave, there is a connection between Oberlin and one of the characters featured in the movie. Harriet Shaw, admirably played by Alfre Woodard, was a real person, whose son Daniel Webster Shaw lived in Oberlin for several years, and is buried in Westwood Cemetery.

The role of Harriet Shaw is perhaps a source of confusion for some viewers of the movie. Why is a black woman, a former slave, living an easy life of comfort in the midst of a region full of plantations where other slaves were being worked nearly to death?

The film is based on the 1853 book, Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor). Northup’s book did not say a lot about Harriet Shaw (in fact, in one place he mistakenly gives her first name as Charlotte), but he does say that she had been a slave to Mr. Shaw, who had taken her as his wife, and that there were several children in their household. Northup wrote that Harriet extended many kindnesses to poor Patsey (played by Lupita Nyong’o), being aware of Patsey’s difficult situation.

Though not typical, it was not entirely unusual for a slave owner to enter into a domestic relationship with a slave. Northup tells that, earlier in life fellow slave Eliza (Adepero Oduye) had lived with her master, who had broken off relations with his wife. Northup writes that Eliza had “resided with him…nine years, with servants to attend upon her, and provided with every comfort and luxury of life.”

Even the notorious Theophilus Freeman (Paul Giamatti), the slave trader who sold Northup at New Orleans, lived with a mulatto woman named Sarah Conner, who had been his slave but whom he had allowed to purchase her freedom.

Harriet Shaw existed in real life. The 1860 census shows that a 25-year-old black woman by that name lived in the household of a P. L. Shaw (his first name was probably Pleasant)–and not as a slave. The census listing shows a number of children in the household, their races given as “mulatto.” Some appear to be too old to have been the children of Harriet, but the younger ones certainly could have been.

One of the children, Daniel, was born about 1858. It seems very likely that this son of Harriet, whose full name was Daniel Webster Shaw, is the same man who, after obtaining a very impressive college education, was a prominent clergyman and writer. According to his death certificate and a record of the 1942 death, in Oberlin, of his son, Carl Clifford Shaw, Rev. Shaw was born in Eola, Louisiana. Eola is a village located on Bayou Boeuf, and the location of the plantation of Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), to whom Northup and Patsey belonged. Though other records show that Daniel was born in 1859 or 1860, these dates are reasonably consistent with the information in the 1860 census listing. Eola is very small, and it seems unlikely that two different men named Daniel Shaw would have been born there around the same time.

Rev Daniel Webster Shaw r

Rev. Daniel Webster Shaw  
(Source: David James submission on Find a Grave)

Daniel Shaw attended a school not far from the plantation where his mother had lived (and where Patsey had visited her frequently). In a message sent by Rev. Shaw to a woman named Rosetta Ann Colt (who had gone to Louisiana after the Civil War to start schools for blacks), he recalled “I think of school days on the Tache [ “Teche,” for Bayou Teche, where Miss Colt had run a school] and all the kind ways in which you helped me to start out in life. If I could be permitted, how gladly would I again fill up the wood-box in your room and kindle the fire on your hearth,” and he credits his success to her help and advice. At the time he wrote this, he was the pastor of a church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Shaw continued his education at Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio (today known as Baldwin Wallace University), graduating in 1883–the first black person to do so. He also pursued studies at Boston University, Oberlin College, and later on, at Wiley University, where he was granted a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1900. As a minister he served congregations in Baltimore, Maryland; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston, West Virginia; Cleveland, Ohio, and in Oberlin, where he served the Rust Methodist Episcopal Church in the 1880s and 1890s. Rev. Shaw married Alice L. Bookram in Oberlin on January 23, 1888, and in 1896 the family resided at the Readie Brooks House at 60 North Park Street.

In addition to his pastoral duties, he at one point was on the faculty at Howard University, and authored many articles and pamphlets. Suffering ill health, the Rev. Dr. Shaw was forced to leave the ministry, and he returned to Oberlin in the summer of 1914, residing at 309 North Main Street. He passed away on September 28, 1914.

AUTHOR BIO:

David Fiske is a retired librarian who is a freelance writer and researcher in upstate New York. His interest in Solomon Northup began in the 1990s, and his research is included in a 2013 book he co-authored titled Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave.

SOURCES CONSULTED:

Marriage and death certificates referenced are available on familysearch.org.

Ohio Historic Inventory LOR-02073-21, Readie Brooks House, Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Contains some references to Rev. Shaw’s residence in Oberlin.

Daniel W. Shaw, The Second Emancipation of the Negro: An Address to the Colored Voters of West Virginia, 1900 [no publisher given]. Includes a biographical note about Shaw.

“African Missions,” Northern Christian Advocate [Syracuse, New York], October 26, 1905. Biographical sketch of Rosetta Ann Colt includes a quote from a letter sent to her by Rev. Shaw.

Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave. Originally published in 1853; many editions now available.